Movie review: Nothing about 'Furry Vengeance' is original

Friday

The ecologically minded family comedy “Furry Vengeance” certainly practices the Earth-friendly message it preaches. Devoid of an original thought or approach, it’s 100 percent recycled.

The ecologically minded family comedy “Furry Vengeance” certainly practices the Earth-friendly message it preaches. Devoid of an original thought or approach, it’s 100 percent recycled.

Directed by Roger Kumble (“College Road Trip”), the film unapologetically borrows dialogue. That “Miley Cyrus” line Brendan Fraser squeals in the trailer, well, it’s a rip-off from Steve Carell, who painfully shouted “Kelly Clarkson” in the waxing scene from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

The reuse doesn’t stop there as Kumble – and the writing team of Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert, who also penned “Mr. Woodcock” – mooch the film’s premise and positive message off other eco-focused kiddie flicks like “Hoot” and “Over the Hedge.”

The children who drag their parents to see “Furry Vengeance” likely won’t recognize this stuff, but poor mom and dad will. And Ken Jeong of “The Hangover” isn’t enough of an adult attraction to make up for a film that is nothing special.

In “Furry Vengeance” – a title that’s a little too close to the sex fetish – Fraser is Dan Sanders, a real-estate developer who squares off against a posse of woodland critters who don’t take too kindly to his latest housing development. Masked as environmentally friendly, the project threatens the animals’ natural habitat in the pristine Oregon woods.

Jeong as Dan’s boss is completely miscast as a neurotic corporate type who doesn’t give a hoot about the environment. The only green he cares about is the kind with dead presidents printed on it. Jeong is thankfully overshadowed by his oddball assistant, Angela Kinsey from “The Office.” She makes her screwball presence somewhat memorable in an otherwise unmemorable film.

The grudge-carrying critters are led by a rascally raccoon who masterminds the havoc wreaked on Dan. Youngsters might find the pranks and schemes funny, but they’re pretty pedestrian. Fraser tipped over in a portable toilet. Fraser trapped in a car with a posse of skunks. Fraser forced into a tomato juice bath because of aforementioned skunks. Fraser’s clothing stolen so he’s left with only his wife’s (Brooke Shields) pink sweatsuit with “Yum, Yum” written on the rear. That’s the point when you’re most embarrassed for Fraser, whose performance is so far from what he’s capable of as an actor. He’s so overwrought, trying to do the lame physical comedy the script calls for.

Sure, it’s hard to dis a movie that aims to teach kids to respect the environment, but “Furry Vengeance” is just too contrived and clumsy to embrace.